13-05-08 Nolan, LaDonna
Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 7:01:16 PM) (1609819) This space is not my territory. Nor does it belong to anyone else, as far as I can scent. It's empty and fertile land, which has made an ideal place to hunt. That also makes it dangerous. The very things that attract me attract others. They are mostly true creatures of the wood, and mostly harmless. I'm not troubled by birds or deer or foxes. They aren't a threat to my hunting, nor to my life. I had seen a falconkin flying some days ago, but ours is a relationship of respect. Or one of aloofness. Either way, the falckonkin's business was none of my concern. The scent I've just found, though? That is. Swinekin. A small sounder. In my wolf form I place my nose to the ground, taking in the putrid scent of them. A small family group, maybe four individuals. A male and a female, and some juveniles not yet fully grown. Not that it matters. Even a swinekin hours old is a horrible thing. I lift my head, scenting the air for them. I can't take four on my own with certainty, so it may be best to avoid the things. But that would mean knowing which way they went. Oftentimes they walk in strange patterns, backtracking in spirals and circles. Their scent is hard to pinpoint now. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 7:15:49 PM) (1609821) I walked at night and slept during the day. The Daoine and their horsekin are no good at night, but I can manage. It made hunting a little harder--it's much easier at twilight and dawn than at the dead of night--but I've kept myself fed and kept moving. If I hadn't been in my battle form when I was kicked by that horsekin, I'm sure I'd be dead. Luckily, in addition to being very large and powerful that form comes with a very big, thick skull. It might not have been a well-placed kick either. It feels bruised, but my skull doesn't appear to be cracked and I can still run. It's twilight now and I haven't scented a Daoine, so I think it's safe to go out hunting now. I'm sniffing as I follow a well worn trail toward water. Deer have been on it most recently, but a lot of different animals have used it. The wind is wrong, though. It's blowing my scent down the path, instead of bringing the scents to me. I'll have to circle around and try to find a better position to find the doe without alerting her. The path turns muddy as it goes down a hill and I slide a bit, moving faster than I'd intended. I'm not especially worried until I slip right under a bush and slam into a solid body. Swinekin. I scramble back up to my feet and issue a warning growl, hackles raised. At first, I just think it's a small adult, but then I realize I've stumbled onto a juvenile. And then I hear the parents come crashing through the forest like a landslide, toward me. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 7:25:58 PM) (1609828) Once I think I've found their location I continue on, but a few seconds later I'm proven wrong. The scent of another wolfkin is blown my way, and almost instantly I hear the squeals and thundering hooves of the swinekin. I don't know this other one, but once the ire of the swinekin is raised, they don't calm down well. They'll trample half the forest before they're content. I turn and charge, my head low as I move through the undergrowth toward the terrible sounds. I spot the charging adults quickly and spring onto the female. Massive paws curl, pressing nails into her loin as I bite down hard on the back of her neck. On any other creature it would sever her spine, but their thick porcine necks are harder to penetrate. I bite and tear, then, hoping I can rip enough open to disable her. And, if I am very lucky, the other wolfkin will be able to hold her own. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 7:36:57 PM) (1609833) I hadn't been expecting another wolf to arrive. Then again, neither had the swinekin. I'll take any advantage I can have at the moment and worry about stumbling onto someone else's territory later. The male comes at me with an enraged squeal, his head lowered, tusks aimed toward me. I've seen them use this tactic before, where they get their tusks in under the belly of a wolf to try to disembowel it. Swinekin are not easy to fight, but they're also something I've been hunting since I was barely more than a pup. I leap forward, low to get under those tusks. It's hard to get anywhere vulnerable from this position, but that's not my goal. My teeth catch his front leg, but only manage to rip off a hunk of flesh. He can't get me with his tusks like this, so starts to move, trying to get at my belly from the side with his tusks. Which has that thick neck straining to reach, no longer protected from his head being lowered, and I abruptly shove my weight upwards as my teeth move from his leg to his exposed throat. A very dangerous move, but it also results in a quick kill. My head is protected from his hooves or tusks as I bury my face in his throat, snarling and tearing through flesh. When his thrashing changes from defense to death twitches, I draw back with a snarl, searching for some sign of the juvenile. His tusks weren't grown yet, but he could still be dangerous. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 7:41:10 PM) (1609836) The female squeals and spins, tossing her head. She lacks the massive tucks of her mate, but still has sharp eye-teeth and a jaw strong enough to crush bone. I tear and bite down again, this time feeling something crush beneath my teeth. Her body falls abruptly, though her squeals haven't stopped. I press the sow's massive body to the side, rolling her to grab her throat. She was not a threat anymore, but her squeals might have summoned more swinekin. Already my eyes move about. There had been at least one other, and I don't like that I've lost sight of him while I'm busy strangling his mother. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 7:53:37 PM) (1609849) I stay low as I listen and watch, trying to determine where the young one went. Is the sounder bigger than this? Maybe he's bringing more back with him. Though they often spend time in their beast forms, it's important to remember that the swinekin aren't stupid. No, they're usually horribly intelligent. "There are more," I growl to the other wolf. I can scent that he's one of my own kind, not a true wolf. Even a true wolf would be able to grasp what I was saying, though. It's a fairly simple warning. More. The young one might be as smart as all of his kind are, but he's also inexperienced. Stealth isn't a skill he's managed yet. Nor has his sibling, apparently, because I can hear multiple hooves in the underbrush now, moving up on us. I back up to stand beside the other wolf, as we'll be in a better position closer to one another. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 8:03:50 PM) (1609859) I release the sow as her ragged breath finally stops and step back, moving toward the other wolfkin. She's a decent fighter, and I'm safer with my back to her than I am to the sounder. I don't smell any more over the blood, just two juveniles charging toward us. My ears swivel, trying to pinpoint them before they come bursting out of the foliage. They don't have the element of surprise, but swinekin don't often need it. You can hear them coming a mile away and unless you can move quickly enough, it won't matter. I crouch slightly, and the moment I'm sure where one of them will emerge from, I leap. In this form they can be hard to fight on the ground, all round and full of fat and hard muscle, all their vital parts tucked away from claws and fangs. But they also can't leap like this, and over them is often the safest place to be. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 8:14:06 PM) (1609865) The two juveniles split up, with one coming from one side of the underbrush and the other on the opposite side. I trust the wolfkin male to handle the one on his side. It's a female that comes through nearest me. No tusks and her eyeteeth are still relatively small, which makes her far easier to take. Were they in their Daoine form, they'd look little different from random adolescents. Unfortunately, they are very different. Ordinary juveniles would run in this situation. Swinekin will kill. You can't just walk away. I leap upon the young swinekin, catching her by the back of the neck with my jaws. They're much larger than the little pigs raised on farms, but I'm a bit larger than a true wolf. Holding the swinekin by the back of the neck, I whip my head back and forth violently before slamming the swinekin's body down on the ground. She's stunned, not dead. I could kill a piglet or a rabbit like that easily, but she's too heavy. Still, stunning is enough and before she recovers I get a suffocating hold on her throat and hold it there. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 8:22:55 PM) (1609867) The young male tosses his head as I jump over him. He has no tusks which made the move safer, but his hard snout still catches my stomach. It throws off my jump and knocks the wind out of me. Instead of landing on him I land at his side, down on one leg. He turns to try and catch me, but I'm far faster than his meaty little body. By the time he turns, he finds my jaws in place of my hindquarters. I snap my teeth down on his snout, holding his nose and mouth shut. His squeals are muted as he shakes his head violently, trying to free himself. I growl and hold tight, planting my paws in the dirt as he tries to pull back. Soon his flailing weakens, and dazed, he starts to stumble. Quickly I release his nose and go for his throat. His head twists and flicks as he tries to his last breath to fight me, but soon his body is still, too. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 8:28:29 PM) (1609869) Once the swinekin juveniles are dead, I go still and quiet, listening, scenting the air. There don't appear to be any more of them around at the moment, which is good. I think the two of us could take them, but I need to speak to him and it's much harder to do that while in my wolf form. So once I'm sure it's safe, I shift to my Daoine form, crouched in the underbrush, nude and splattered with blood from when I tore out the throat of the elder boar. I'm not particularly concerned about either. It is the first time I've had hands since I ran from the massacre against my family, so I take the opportunity to touch the side of my head under my hair, checking where I'd been kicked. There's a sizable lump there still. If there's a bruise, though, I have no way of seeing it. "My apologies if I've crossed onto your territory. I didn't find any indication of it." He appears to be alone, but a lone hunter can still lay claim to land. I'm lucky, really. If I came bursting onto an established pack's land without warning, it would be much harder to appease them. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 8:34:15 PM) (1609876) In the silence, I do the same. My ears turning, nose twitching as I try to find some sign of other swinekin. There seem to be none, and that suits me just fine. This is more meat than I can take on my own. More than enough for two of us, even. Killing more would be senseless, but that is the violence of the swinekin. For all their intelligence, their single-minded devotion to destruction is shameful and endless. I turn once the female shifts, looking her over. Nudity doesn't trouble me, nor it is especially arousing like this. But it does let me get a good look at her. Between her body and her scent she is near my age, fairly healthy, but wounded. A bit beyond her range, too. After my evaluation, I shift to my Daoine form. I'm just as bare as her. Maybe a touch lighter in my skin, and my hair the same reddish shade as my fur. "It's not my territory," I assure her. "I was only hunting here. You are far from home, aren't you?" LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 8:43:18 PM) (1609888) "I come from Lourenhal," I agree. "If you have territory that's recognized by the crown, it may be taken from you. One of the Wolf King's Daoine nephews took the throne, then he sent men to slay us and take Lourenhal." It was luck that had me survive. If the kick had been as bad as those people assumed, I never would have crawled away. If they had realized it wasn't that bad, they would have slit my throat. I'd like to think my great skill as a warrior got me away, but that wasn't it. If skill would have decided who lived that day, my father would have been fine. My eyes flick over the male. He looks healthy and strong. Relatively young. He might make a valuable ally, if he's willing. "My name is LaDonna." Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 8:49:02 PM) (1609893) I frown slightly, hearing that news. Matters of the royal family were always far removed from my pack, as remote as we were. But a Daoine on the throne, stripping land from wolfkin and the others, slaughtering our kind...no, that doesn't sit well. "Nolan," I reply. "Reynard." She didn't offer her last name, but I know it. The kin who kept Lourenhal were the LeBeauxs. My own family name is not uncommon, the line named generation ago for the red of our coats, a color nearer to foxes than that of other wolfkin. We are not landed, but neither are we servants. We are hunters, feral and natural. My eyes move over her once more. "How bad is your wound?" LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 8:54:40 PM) (1609899) Reynard, he says. I look him over, nodding slightly. I can see it. One of the few wolfkin families with coats as red as those of the Faolins. Of course, I suppose the wolfkin Faolins are all gone now, aren't they? I suppose the Reynards get to keep that distinction all their own, then. "I'm not sure. I was kicked in the head by a horsekin during the battle. I lost consciousness several times and haven't tried walking on two legs since." Obviously, I can still hunt, but I know injuries like this trick us. It's the sort of thing I would have had our druid look at, if she wasn't most likely dead by the time it happened. I'll settle back to sit on the forest floor, cocking my head as I pull my hair to one side, trying to expose where I was kicked. "Can you see it?" Twilight is settled over the land now, so the light is growing dim, but I trust his eyes are good enough to at least take a glance at the wound. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 9:56:18 PM) (1609962) Still crouched, I move closer to her, reaching up to carefully part her hair. "There's a cut," I muse, looking it over. "And a lump, with some bruising." Thanks to the cut, the bruising isn't quite as extensive as it could have been. I take my thumb and run it gently around the swelling. Nothing is poking out, nothing shifts, nothing seems broken. "For taking a hoof to the head, I would say you're very fortunate." Even if her head is intact, it's still a major injury. She isn't sure she can travel on two legs. If she had companions--and I suspect she did, this close their scent lingers--they aren't with her now. "I have a den not far from here. We have plenty of food." I turn to look at the swinekin. "You should rest." I don't know this female beyond her name, but killing swinekin with me is enough to earn her at least a day's worth of trust. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 10:05:33 PM) (1609976) I stiffen slightly when he touches around the swelling, but don't otherwise react to the pain. Not because it doesn't hurt, but because vocalizing pain or things like that are an extreme sign of trust. This male is trustworthy enough for the moment because we've hunted together, but he's not pack. He's not blood. I'm not going to advertise signs of weakness to him because of that. Really, I probably wouldn't have whimpered even with my own family. I'm fairly stoic about these sorts of things. "I was dodging a sword when I was kicked. I imagine the fact that I was moving helped." Since it was a front hoof, the best damage would have been if the horsekin managed to get my head beneath his hoof. I wouldn't be here if that had happened. While he's still close, I sniff at Nolan. Not impolitely, hopefully. I just want to know more about him. "Thank you. I need to reach the gathering grounds for the falconkin, so I can be sure the true story gets told, but...a night's rest will help." It doesn't do me any good to drop dead from brain swelling or infection. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 10:23:51 PM) (1609993) As she investigates me, she'll find me healthy, perhaps just coming into my prime. There's no other wolfkin scent on me, no family, no mate. I've been apart from my former pack for some time, now, and I generally keep to myself. I smell like the forest around us, which makes it hard for her to know if I've been anywhere else. "Walk however you need. I'll have to pull one of the swinekin." I look between then all, and select the larger of the young ones. Better flavor, I think. I grab a hind leg so I can pull it along behind me. It will slow me down, but for now, that's alright. She's injured, and this way she won't feel rushed. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 10:29:40 PM) (1610000) Still a little uncertain about walking far on two legs, I shift back to my wolf form to follow him. It also puts my nose closer to the ground, so we're covering two levels of scent together. That's a precaution my father taught me, and it worked well for our pack. By having multiple forms represented in a hunting party, we filled in one another's weaknesses and it made it nearly impossible for anything to sneak up on us. I'm not sure how much of a den he has, but it'll be safer and more comfortable than finding somewhere to hide on my own. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 10:46:28 PM) (1610011) I lead the way and, as promised, it isn't far. To call the den a cave may be a bit generous, but it does suit my needs. It's an overhang, dug out to be deeper than it would have been naturally. It's tall enough now that I can stand under it, and large enough for the two of us to be comfortable without being too close. I have some furs spread out over the dirt, and a bag in the back holds my clothes and other items. I lay the swinekin at the edge of the overhang, leaving it there for now. "Do you prefer your meat cooked?" I don't, and I think most wolfkin don't mind. But she's a highborn female, and her expectations of dinner may be different from my own. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 10:52:49 PM) (1610013) The den is nothing like my chamber at home, but I've spent a lot of time out hunting and slept in far less favorable spaces. It's a warm, dry den and that's good enough for me. Since I no longer have to walk or worry about the dizziness from my head wound, I shift back to my Daoine form, since it makes it easier to carry on a conversation. I settle on my side, considering the den thoughtfully. He might have just been hunting here, but he's made a good home for himself, even if it is small. If he wanted, it wouldn't be a bad place to claim and build a pack on. Of course, the current political climate in Aitbheth might make that difficult. "No. Raw is best." If it is cooked, then I like it actually prepared instead of just stuck over a fire. Spiced and put with other ingredients at least puts some flavor back into it. The fire just dries it out and makes it taste like leather to me. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 11:06:12 PM) (1610035) "Good. I haven't had a need to build a fire yet and I didn't relish the idea of gathering wood." I sniff the air again, noting that it might rain tonight. But it's been warm, the wind that carries the scent now is warm, too. It won't be cold, just wet. Reaching for my bag, I draw a knife to start cutting into the swinekin. I could use claws, but I suppose this is habit for me. Daoine hands call for Daoine tools. I take some thin slices from the ham, laying them out on a carved bit of fatty skin, which serves as a platter for now. "After you reach the Seat of Heaven, what do you intend to do? It seems this new climate may be troubling for us." LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 11:17:59 PM) (1610046) "Yes, it will be. I haven't thought much further ahead than the deaths of every last one of the men who attacked us, then their lord, then the Daoine king." I don't have to kill them personally, of course. I just want to see them dead. "The falconkin the soldiers were after said he'd helped Wolf King Donovan's daughter escape." Which means there's still one Strainseiri with a claim on the throne. I don't know what good she'd be at it--she's just a child herself, isn't she?--but maybe she'll surprise us and raise an army or something of the like. "I've lost my lands, so." I shrug slightly. The thought of finding acceptance in another pack doesn't appeal at all. Not because I don't like my own kind, but because I'm not going to be subordinate to anyone but my father. And my father's dead now. Most likely, then, I'll stay alone until I find a mate, then claim territory. And hopefully kill some Daoine scum and eat their faces, too. Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 11:26:47 PM) (1610053) ...I do like the way she thinks. I find myself smiling slightly as I cut. She's obviously lost more than her land, and that is no small wound. But seeing every last one of them killed and doing what I can to ensure the death of the usurper? She does have my style of conflict resolution. I nod to the growing pile of meat, indicating she doesn't need to wait for me. This isn't my territory and the kill is not solely mine. We had an equal share in the work, and so an equal share of the spoils. "Have you traveled to the Seat before?" The journey is not as bad as it could be, but it's far easier to reach by air. Traveling this way there are few settlements, but nature throws in other obstacles. The forests are still lousy with swinekin and other tribes of Strainseiri who are a touch more protective of their borders, especially if a war is brewing. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 11:34:28 PM) (1610058) "No. I've had no reason." It's easy enough to find, of course. And a few thousand falconkin won't exactly be hiding when I get to their gathering lands. Especially not since their druids had to get there by foot, so there are paths. There were falconkin at Lourenhal, too. I heard them talk and asked questions sometimes. Since he nods to the meat, I take some to gnaw on it. Most of the Qritani around here won't touch swinekin meat, because...well, they're people. As much as any of us are. Some Qritani aren't bothered by it, though. They're also the more practical ones who don't turn up their noses at eating Daoine flesh either. There's a long, complicated history when it comes to who eats whom, especially in these lands. I don't hunt Daoine because there's no need to and it would alienate our subjects. I'd happily eat the Daoine King, though. "Have you?" Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/8/2013 11:42:35 PM) (1610062) "A few times. My uncle had a...close relationship with one of the falconkin, and we would travel there at times." As I've grown older, I can see what an odd thing it was. Not unspeakable, but unusual. Satisfied with the amount of meat for now, I set the knife aside to enjoy it. Because the swinekin was young, it's far more tender, without the musky taste the older ones take on. "It has been years, but I'm sure I'd still know the area. If you think you might benefit from the company." No, I don't know her. But these matters are serious and our kind do better in numbers larger than one. I feel her mission is righteous and while it may not be my battle to take up, I will reap benefits if she is successful. ...and she is a rather pleasing female, besides. If she were an old, worn bitch, I can't say I'd feel as charitable. LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/8/2013 11:56:34 PM) (1610071) I give Nolan a curious look when he says his uncle had a close relationship with one of the falconkin. I don't know if the ones who live at Lourenhal were killed or not, but I've been assuming they had been. I wouldn't grieve them like I do my own blood or even any of the Daoine. They're just very different and difficult to relate to. There are likely a great deal of people who say the same thing about us. "I would. I don't like traveling alone." He seems to be doing well for himself. If I had to, I imagine I could do the same, but I wouldn't like it. We're social creatures at our core. Even if we aren't a pack, just having a hunting partner and companion for a few weeks is better than solitude. "What would you want in return?" Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/9/2013 12:10:21 AM) (1610076) "The companionship would be welcome. I was sent out of my pack two years ago, and I've seen few wolfkin since." Well, seen, yes. But they were usually other packs I avoided as I skirted around their territories. The other loners were usually males, weak, easily cowed, useless. LaDonna is simply the first lone female worth my company that I've encountered in all that time. I take another bite of meat, looking at our surroundings. "I'm not leaving anything behind here that I would miss. Save the good hunting. But game is everywhere." LaDonna LeBeaux (Parthenogenic) (5/9/2013 12:22:16 AM) (1610084) "If the Daoine King falls, there'll be good land for hunting for all of us again." And hopefully he will. I wonder how many of us have been killed as he's claimed those lands. Was it just because of my father's connection to the royal family? If that's the case, then anyone with a title is in danger, because all of those wolfkin have mingled their blood with House Faolin. There's never been much need to spend time around a male from outside my family, so I'm not sure how well we'll work together. But my family is dead. There's nothing else to be done, if I don't want to be alone. I'm less likely to fight over dominance with a male than I would be with another female, at least. "Shall we leave tomorrow then?" Nolan Reynard (RabbitMage) (5/9/2013 12:29:41 AM) (1610088) "Tomorrow," I agree. Traveling in the daytime won't be so hard, if we're together. There are a lot of benefits to our new agreement, and I find myself grateful I was where I was when the swinekin attacked. Once I've had my fill of meat I lay back on the furs, stretched out comfortably. It should keep well enough tonight, and in the morning we can eat more before we travel. Perhaps even cut and dry some in case food is lean as we travel. Then again, we aren't horsekin. We do far better in feast or famine. A day or two without food won't do us much harm. Category:Logs Category:Nolan Reynard Category:LaDonna LeBeaux